Utility commodities, for example, gas, electricity, telephone, cable television, and water, are typically made available for use by customers in advance of payment. In other words, the customer uses the utility commodity and then receives a bill for the consumed commodity.
Problems with such an arrangement arise when a customer's invoices are in arrears. In such cases, it is sometimes necessary to inhibit access to the consumed commodity pending payment of past-due invoices. However, terminating or inhibiting access presents other problems.
For example, in some situations, governmental regulations dictate the conditions under which access to certain commodities may be terminated or inhibited. Moreover, the physical act of disconnecting service, particularly for gas, electricity or water, typically requires access to the customer supply line or the customer's utility meter. This requirement of access requires a significant amount of labor, and further can result in a an unpleasant and possibly dangerous interaction with the customer.
One prior art arrangement avoids some of such drawbacks by providing remote control over connection to the electrical utility is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,549 to Synesiou et al (“Synesiou”). The arrangement shown in Synesiou employs a communal control device that communicates with a remote measurement module. The remote measurement module both performs electrical energy consumption measurements and controllably connects and disconnects the customer's electrical system from the utility electrical mains. While the arrangement of Synesiou addresses some of the problems of the prior art, it includes a number of drawbacks. Specifically, the Synesiou arrangement only allows for remote disconnection and connection the electrical utility. No method or apparatus is provided that would allow for remote connection or disconnection of multiple utilities.
Accordingly, there is a need for a control device that assists in controlling access to utility commodities that addresses one or more of the above drawbacks.